Duncan Grey
"Do you know the story of Saul from Tarsus? He was in a gang called the Pharisees, until God hit him with a bolt of lightning on the road to Damascus. Well, this is your Damascus. I'm not God in this story. I'm the lightning. And if I have to strike you down, I swear you'll never get up." "I don't believe in Harlem. I believe in the people who make Harlem what it is." Duncan Grey is the protégé of Xander Mercury and vigilante residing in Empire City. Raised on the tough streets of Harlem, Duncan searched for ways to escape, hoping to help people. He has a sense of justice, and is ambitious, intelligent, and willing. Trained by Xander Mercury, he became an archer and inspired others to fight their oppressors. Duncan has an acute sense of right and wrong, and strives to right the scales of justice regardless the cost. Biography Early Life "People from my neighborhood don't get scholarships. They join gangs, sell drugs. I needed to change the direction my life was going." Duncan was born and raised in Harlem, Empire City. At a young age, Duncan's father taught him that being a man is not about how tough you are. He was told how anyone can throw a punch or pull a trigger. in summary, tearing stuff down is easy, while building up is hard. He was told to try to leave this world a little better than he found it. One of Duncan's mother's three jobs was cleaning Harlem Gun Range. The owner let him go there after hours and practice, until he worked out his anger. His father's family business was destroyed by armed thugs who demanded he pay them protection money. When he refused, they beat him half to death. Duncan wanted to make sure that didn't ever happen again. Harlem's Hero Duncan, using his skills, took to the streets of Harlem with his training. Agency Career Much like Xander Mercury, Duncan was recruited from the streets after being caught in unexpected crosshairs, by the Agency. Duncan was initially assigned to a covert kill squad led by a United States Armed Forces General, but Xander Mercury had his eye on him. Recruited by Xander Mercury Xander Mercury offered to train Duncan so he could learn to control his anger, and also to teach him patience and discipline. Leaving his Mentor TBA Future "Bows. Arrows. I never knew why we couldn't just use a gun the way they did." In the future, Duncan is a 5th-degree black belt with training in edged weapons combat. Personality "The world doesn't work anymore. It broke a long time ago, but it was like I was the only one who noticed. That makes me angry. And I'm afraid that that anger is going to burn me up inside if I have to live in the world one second longer knowing that I could do something to fix it." Duncan Grey is one of Xander Mercury's most stalwart friends and allies. Both men found a kindred spirit in each other when they discovered they both shared common life experiences and had similar values. Duncan admires Xander and the ideals he represents. Their commonality helped the two to forge a bond that led Duncan to aid Xander in many of his heroic exploits. During these exploits, Duncan becomes a hero in his own right, whether it be when the two are fighting shoulder to shoulder together during a mission to save the world or aiding Xander with a personal matter. In contrast to Xander's pensive no nonsense attitude, Duncan often displays a more brazen attitude and often makes cheeky comments. Due to his background and ethnicity, Duncan has always expected to deal with racism and bigotry. Duncan is not a hypocrite in his unforgiving nature as he treats everyone equally. Duncan is a left-winger, and believes the government must do for people what people can't do for themselves. Duncan does not have a dislike for guns, as he still firmly believes that the latters' do more good than bad and can save innocent lives. Abilities "The greatest arsenal any man can bring to the party consists of the resources of his own mind: his intelligence, his stratagems, his force of will. And you, my young friend, have all of those in spades." -Xander Mercury Duncan is noted for his marksmanship and combat expertise, including his advanced sleight of hand, steady hands, keen eye, strong grip, target weakness, steady aim, and fast trigger finger. From least to greatest in degree, Duncan's physical-mental attributes include constitution, strength, intelligence, speed, and dexterity. "In real life, you got variables. You know, you got rifling twist. You got chamber pressure. You got bullet weight. Some shots you'll even have to take the curvature of the Earth in with the wind effect. You know, there's a lot of variables in the street." *'Bow Expertise:' Duncan is an impressive marksman, highly skilled in hitting his targets and archery, being an excellent archer. He is able to quickly shoot arrows with great accuracy. *'Expert Marksman:' Duncan is considered to be an expert in the use of all firearms. His advanced sleight of hand gives him an increased reload speed for pistols and two-handed weapons, his steady hands reduce scope away on all scoped weapons, his keen eye increases damage dealt by sniper rifles, his strong grip increases the stability of two-handed weapons, his target weakness increases damage dealt by shotguns against vehicles and armored targets, his steady aim increases range, and his fast trigger finger upgrades pistol rate-of-fire to as fast as the trigger can be pulled. *'Expert Combatant:' Duncan was well trained in armed and hand-to-hand combat under Xander Mercury's guidance, which made him extremely skilled in martial arts, enough to serve Xander as his sidekick vigilante, despite only being a teenager. He has also been a skilled fighter even before becoming a vigilante, and his style of combat was instinctive and improvised, using quick attacks and agile movements. During his training, he was taught to widen his stance, stay on his center line, stay inside his opponent's shoulders, stay on his line, and keep his chin down. "Keep your blade up. Always stay behind your sword." -Xander Mercury **'Sword Expertise:' Duncan knows the basics of fencing thanks to several lessons with Xander Mercury, who had studied the teaching methods of David Abramovich Tyshler, widely regarded as the greatest fencing instructor in recent history. *'Expert Acrobat:' Duncan is extremely athletic, especially in the areas of parkour. He is adept at advanced, high speed parkour moves. Duncan is superbly nimble and agile, and later learned under Xander's tutelage to effectively utilize his natural agility in combat. He spent years developing his flexibility, and years longer to apply it in combat. *'Gifted Intelligence:' Duncan is an intelligent science enthusiast, with aptitudes in chemistry, physics, and engineering. Duncan is quite intelligent due to experience working with Xander Mercury in the field, though he's nowhere near as intelligent as his mentor, and is more knowledgeable in technology than in other fields. His deduction often impresses his mentor. He can also come up with witty and incredibly annoying quips, much to his allies and enemies' irritation. "You know, strategy's name of the game, you want to whip some serious ass." **'Expert Tactician:' Duncan has expanded on John Nash's game theory, the study of strategic decision making. Duncan has shown to prepare before engaging in combat and overtaking a stronger enemy. Xander Mercury has commented that this is his greatest asset. **'Bilingualism:' Duncan is fluent in both English and Mandarin, which he took in high school. Equipment When he first started as the Harlem vigilante, his equipment included binoculars, an army knife, a hammer, a camouflage bandana, and a slingshot. Attire *'Vigilante Suit:' A suit made from an industrial fabricator with a polymer Kevlar weave, Duncan's highly durable protective suit and combat armor is used to compensate for his lack of invulnerability. It is invulnerable to knives, small-caliber bullets, and is also fireproof. *'Mapping-Action Eyewear:' Goggles used to coordinate plans on a holographic display amongst members of a unit, as well as download information directly to the goggles from other sources of data. Weaponry and Gadgets *'Hybrid Compound Bow:' Duncan's hybrid compound bow has adjustable tension for resistance, uses a laser sight to train his precision endurance and focus, and has a vibration dampening system for unlimited and safe dry-firing to practice proper release. *'Arrows:' Arrows with tips that are hand-soldered out of high-carbon steel. They are heart-shaped and colored red. *'Trick Arrows' *'D-40 Crossbow:' Duncan also uses a collapsible crossbow, as seen when he is dressed in civilian clothes. He keeps the crossbow in the pouch on his leg while in uniform. It is pre-loaded with both bolts and bolts with trick broadheads. *'Bolts:' Bullets mushroom against a Kevlar vest, but broadheads go right through, and no ballistics. *'Trick Bolts' *'Electrostatic Bracelets:' Two electrostatic bracelets that are designed and equipped to discharge high amounts of electricity (50,000 volts), capable of stunning and disorienting even the most powerful of opponents. "If the bad guys got guns, then I'm strapping up, too." In the future, Duncan's weapon of choice is firearms. *'Glock 19:' Duncan's Glock 19 fitted with an extra ammunition magazine holds up to 15 rounds, single action, perfect for self-defense. *'Colt M1911:' Duncan's 1911 is a world-renowned pistol that was once commonly used in the US. military. It packs a lot of stopping power at close range. Duncan bored the chamber, customized the trigger, and added a compensator, which reduces the recoil spread over time for rapid firing. *'Beretta 92:' A 9mm Beretta, takes 15 in the magazine, 1 up the chamber, wide ejection port, no feed jams. *'Beretta 93R:' Twin fully automatic pistols. *'Smith & Wesson Governor:' Duncan's revolver is quite unique as it also fires a shotgun cartridge for use in messy close-range situations. Future *'Katana:' Duncan uses a katana in close combat in the future. Transportation *'Motorcycle:' When Duncan is on patrol, he is seen riding a motorcycle to get around Empire City. Relationships Family *Father *Mother *Uncle † *Brother, Archenemy Allies *Xander Mercury - Mentor Enemies *Leona Zolnerowich Trivia *Duncan's signature color is blue. *Duncan is a Christian. *Duncan reads Donald Goines (because he invented Kenyatta), Walter Mosley (because he invented Easy Rawlins), George Pelecanos, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, Chester Himes, Michael Connelly, and Harry Bosch. *Duncan's favorite kung fu flicks are Five Deadly Venoms, Clan of the White Lotus, and Five Fingers of Death. He also likes Jet Li in Chinese Connection and Fist of Legend, and he also chooses him over Bruce Lee. *Duncan is squad leader of his Call of Duty World League Challenge Division team. Grey, Duncan Grey, Duncan Grey, Duncan Grey, Duncan Grey, Duncan